Re: Documentation Stuio (single-sourcing)

[Len Olszewski <saslpo -at- UNX -dot- SAS -dot- COM>]

In article <9611111942 -dot- AA3384 -at- lgate -dot- vmedia -dot- com>, Michelle Nichols/VENTANA
<Michelle_Nichols/VENTANA -dot- ITP -at- LGATE -dot- VMEDIA -dot- COM> writes:
|> David Castro writes:
|> >Has anyone seen an example of single-sourcing that is *good*?
[...]
|> I agree that I have seen very few, useful documents that are single-sourced.

[...]
|> Certain types of information can be single-sourced better than others.
[...]
|> Single-sourcing information can be very successful if you think from the
inside
|> out, as opposed to converting from one media/format to another.

Successful single sourcing relies on the analysis of the writer
regarding the structure of the documents being developed for online vs.
hardcopy, and to a lesser extent among different online targets.
Obviously, each are structured differently, but using common parts. The
idea is to engineer your documents so that, regardless of whether they
are intended initially for online or hardcopy targets, they are all
composed of parts which are, to the largest extent possible,
interchangeable in either medium.

Ms. Nichols is correct in suggesting that you need to assess your
documents based on successive hierarchies of object containment, not
just going from MIF to RTF. I would further suggest that this is an
implementation well-suited to SGML technology, further augmented by
applying database principles to managing your document text.

We are developing a single-source solution using just this approach, and
it ain't easy..but I strongly believe in the principle and in the long
term gains in efficiency and cost-savings. Your mileage, as always, may
vary.

Good luck.
--
Len Olszewski           My opinions; you go get your own.
saslpo -at- unx -dot- sas -dot- com